Exercise Trilogy
Exhibition: November 16 – December 11, 2015
18th Street Arts Center | Atrium Gallery
1629 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Reception: November 21, 6-8PM
Free and open to the public.
18th Street Arts Center is pleased to present a solo exhibition of Tainan, Taiwan based artist Chi Kai-Yuan, realized in collaboration with the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles. Presented in conjunction with a three-month residency supported by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, the artist will exhibit an installation of recent interactive sculptural works exploring games and space in the Center’s Atrium Gallery from November 16 – December 11, 2015, with the opening reception on Saturday, November 21, 6-8PM.
In these works, the artist examines how body varies in different spaces through sports such as badminton, table tennis, and hula-hoop. Each of the three sports, created as the response to the space, reminds us of a strange pleasure originating from the alienation caused by the disappearance of certain space. The works also echo Chi’s self-description of how he “loves wandering.” Chi extends a multiplication technique beyond a single experience, meandering through a progressive path of seeking out multi-perspectives as he purposefully practices avoiding precision. In some aspects, the sports evoke an unrestrained sense of time and physicality. The actions are a reflection of a familiar time when recess was integral to our daily routine. We used to walk out of the door or the classroom to play badminton with friends, dig a hole and draw an arc to play marbles on the ground, or string the rubber bands together to practice skipping rope. We enjoyed the empty space by running, jumping, waving our arms, or chasing each other right at the moment when we entered the space. Chi suspects that we had too many empty spaces. It was a time of physicality when we could fully enjoy the outer space and interpersonal intimacy.
Exercise Trilogy includes Chi’s Blooming without Reasons, a work created during his artist residency at Treasure Hill Artist Village, Triangle Table at Crane Gallery, and Octagonal Circle created at Howl Space.\
Chi Kai-Yuan was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and received a Master of Arts at the National Changhua University of Education. Chi Kai-Yuan has participated in artist residencies at Bamboo Curtain Studio (Taiwan, 2012), Treasure Hill Artist Village (Taipei, 2013), Pier-2 Art Center (Kaohsiung, 2014), and 18th Street Arts Center (Los Angeles, 2015). In 2014, Chi won the First Prize of Taipei Arts Award and was recently awarded by Asian Cultural Council (ACC) for the residency program in New York in 2016.
This exhibition receives generous support from the Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles and the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan. 18th Street Arts Center has collaborated with these partners since 1999, fostering cultural exchange by hosting two Taiwanese visiting artists annually.